Process of interiorly coating



F. RUDOLPH L l. G. HODGSON. Y PROCESS 0F INTERIORLY coATlNG CONTAINER vEssELs.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1.913.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

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PRocEss oF msfmomv comme @ONTAINER yvEssriLs. APPL|CAT|=0N FILED vMAY 5.19l3. 1 9 l 96, 1115 Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

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FRANKLIN RUDOLPH, 0F CHICAGO, AND JOHN G. HOIDGSON, OlF MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS T0 AMERICN CAN COMPNY, 01E NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OlE NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS 0F INTERIORLY COATINGCONTAINER VESSELS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, FRANKLIN RUDOLPH, avcitiz'en of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, and JOHN Cr. HoDGsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Maywood, in the county of Cook and State of llllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of lnteriorly Coating Container` Vessels,`of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the process of interiorly coating container vessels and more particularly to the process of applying lacquer or other equivalent coat- 'ing material to the inner walls of cylindrical sheet metal cans.

An object of this invention isto provide a simple method of uniformly applying a coating of lacquer or other equivalent material to the interior walls of cansor other container vessels which will use only a minimum amount of the coating material, the latter being applied without the necessity of using any sprays, swabs or brushes and without dipping.

rllhe invention furthermore consists in the improved steps and in the novel combination of the steps of the process as hereinafter shown, described or claimed.

1n the `drawings forming a part of. this speciication are illustrated suitable mechanisms .for carrying out the improved process, and in said ldrawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a suitable apparatus for depositing measured quantities of lacquer the cans during the movement of the latter over the track.

In carrymg out the process the cans are rst provided with a suitable measuredquantity of lacquer orother coating material, the lacquer or other coating material being deposited on the 1nter1or of the can Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed aug. ea, raie..

application inea nay t, 1913. serial no. 765,634.

while the latterpreferably are in an upright position. yAfter the lacquer hasbeen deposited in the cans the latter are placed on the runway or track, along which the cans are- 'tal position and subsequently the closed end ofthe can is elevated to a position above the open end of the can, whereby the lacquer during the rotation or rotating movement of the can will be uniformly spread first over the bottom or closed end of the can and then gradually and continuously over the sides of the can and at the point where the cans are removed from the track, the open ends of the cans being down, any excess of coating material will be allowed to fall out or drain off into a suitable receptacle. After the coating material has thus been applied, the cans may then be conveyed to a suitable drying or baking device to harden or bake the coating material, although it will be understood that the coating material may be such as to render unnecessary this final baking step.

The apparatus for supplyingthe measured quantities to the cans which is shown in the drawings, comprises a suitable tank 10 supported on a frame 11, the tank being provided with a plurality of valve casings 12 communicating with the interior-of the tank by means of the passages 13. Slid; ingly mounted in each valve casing 12 is an adjustable valve, comprising a tapered member 14 having a depending cylindrical portion 15, in which is threaded a screw 16, the latter having adjustably mounted thereon a cylindrical member 17, the latter preferably being provided with a packing ring 18. The member 17, as shown in Fig. 2, is spaced from the portion 15 to thereby provide a pocket which, as will be understood, may be varied or adjusted to thereby vary the quantity of lacquer or other coating material which is to be deposited in the cans. Each valve is reciprocated by means of the vertically extending rod 19 lpivotally connected, as by means of the link 20, to the lever arm 21; allthe lever arms 21 being fixed to acommon shaft 22 adapted to be operated by a hand lever 23, the latter having i secured thereto one end of the chain 24, the

other end of said chain being secured to any stationary part of the apparatus and adapted to limit the upward throw ofthe valve. As will be understood, by-raislng the hand lever 23, all the valves will be ele- Vated so that the pocket between each set of members 15 and 17 is brought into alinement with its corresponding passage 13, and upon a downward movement of the hand lever 23 all coating material, which is confined between the members 15 and 17 of each valve, will be brought down and will flow out of the nozzle or spout 25 placed over the cans 26, which are arranged on suitable tracks or guides 27. The tank 10 1s also provided with a drain cock 28, and each valve device is preferably provided wltha shut-off valve 29, to close the passages 13 when the measuring apparatus is not in use, and for filling the tank a hinged cover 30 is employed.

After the lacquer or other coatlng material has been deposited in the cans the latter are transferred either by hand or au- 'tomatically to a track designated generally by the reference A. The track A, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4,- at the entrance end thereof has one side 31 elevated above the opposite side 32 so that the cans will assume the position as shown in full at 33 in Fig. 4 and by the can in full at 34 in Flg. 3, that is with the open end of the can uppermost. The side 31 of the track slopes gradually until about the center of the track where it is then on a level with the opposite side 32 of the track and continuously 'horizontal throughout the rest of the length of the track, but the opposite side 32 of the track is gradually elevated so that the cans, as rolled therealong, will be tilted or tlpped to theposition as shown in full at 35 in Fig. 3 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4. To kee the cans on the track suitable guards 36 an 37 are provided as shown in Fig. 3. 'The track, which is illustrated in the drawings, is substantially horizontal and hence it becomes necessary to provide means for rolling or propelling the cans therealong and such means consists of the endless link chain 38 mounted on sprocket wheels 39 driven lfrom any lsuitable source of power (not shown) through the intermediary of the pulley 40. Secured to the chain 38 at,su 1t able distances apart thereon, are a plurallty of propelling fingers or flights 41 which engage the cans successively and roll the same along the track A until the cans are ejected therefrom.

From the preceding description it will be seen that the coating material after being deposited in bulk in the interior of the vessels, is gradually distributed or spread over the interior walls of the vessels by rotating the latter about their longitudinal axes and simultaneously with said rotation, slowly or gradually tilting or rotating the vessels about another axis, substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis. In practice, the coating material will be of such consistency and quality that it will stick to the ti-n forming the cans and will be suiiiciently thin to gradually and slowly spread and run as the can is rotated and tilted, and yet at the same tlme the coating material will not be so thin as to flow or run too readily, thereby insuring a. uniform application of the coating ma.- terial over the entire interior surface of the cans and preventing the leaving of any untion, on the middle of the bottom of the can,

thereby coating the middle portions of the said bottom, then rotating the can in an inclined position with its open end upward, to cause the coating of the marginal portions of the bottom and the coating of those portions of the side walls of the can which are remote from theopen end of the can, and then rotating the can in an inclined position with its open end downward, to cause the coating of the remaining portions of the side walls of the can, and to discharge surplus coating-from the bottom and sides through the open end of the can.

3. The process of coating the interior walls of open ended cans, which consists in moving the cans in line, successively, depositing a predetermined measured amount of coating material simultaneously on the bottomof each of a plurality of successive cans, then continuing the successive movement of the cans and at the same time inclining them with their open ends upward to complete the coating of the bottoms and to partially coat the side walls of the cans, and then continuing the movement of the successive cans in an inclined position with their open ends downward, to complete the coating of the side walls of the cans and to discharge surplus coating.

4. The process of coating the interior walls of open ended cans, which consists in first depositing quantities of fluid coating within such cans successively; then evenly 1,1ee,1ee 1111 and continuously rolling and conveying the ing such rolling, from the open end of the cans While in inclined positions with their can.

open ends upward; then gradually changing FRANKLIN RUDOLPH. the inclinations of the cans during such con- JOHN G. lHODGrSON.A tinuous rolling, to horizontal positions and Witnesses:

. then to reversely inclined positions; and WILLIAM A'. GEIGER,

then discharging the surplus coating, dur- ESTHER ABRAMS. 

